MOLE!!!! :)

Hi.. Does anyone have any fool proof way to get rid of a mole? I have heard they are so tough to get rid of..:) he is digging up my lawn!! thanks Rainy

Reply to
Rainy
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Reply to
Rainy

Caster Oil. I don't remember if you mix it. Google 'castor oil and Moles' that should give it to you somewhere. It works for me! It has to be 'pure cold pressed', not the cheap stuf, avaiable only in healt stores I think.

Reply to
Ben

Reply to
Rainy

You will find instructions on this site

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Reply to
Ben

starting a management program, first determine whether real damage is occurring"[University of Nebraska Institute of Agriculture & Natural Resources]. In wet conditions mole runs will be shallow enough that tunnel-ridges appear in very close-cropped yards. This does not actually damage the lawn, but the ridges can be tamped back down, & when this happens often enough, moles change their tunnelling methods to keep from getting them tamped closed. They are most industrious in lawns that are infested with something that WILL kill the lawn, so the general rule of thumb is, "If you have moles, you need moles."

As for the westcliffe recipe linked above, the recipe is right, but sprinkling a bit of it with a sprinkling can in a few areas will have no effect. A mole never abandons its tunnels over these repellant recipes poored into entryways or portions of their tunnels. ANY messing around with a tunnel entrance causes a mole to seal up that entrance & tunnel around it, whether it is with a shovel, a water hose, a nosey dog, or a so-called repellant.

Numerous field trials have been published with very mixed results, but the best-case study found that when castor oil (6% solution) absolutely drenches an entire area, with a couple tablespoons of dishwashing detergent (as a surficant) per gallon of water; & if this is sprayed over THE ENTIRE AREA very liberally, so that there is no way for the mole to just move a tunnel left or right to get away from the oil -- then for so long a every section of the garden & lawn stinks of castor oil the mole will hunt its grubs in other yards for up to 30 days.

The effect at its best is always temporary, & some of the "best case" field studies cited by vendors of mole repellants have turned out mostly to go into the category of "irreproducible results" as the greater majority of field studies don't even show the moderate temporary benefit, leading some specialists to just warn that all repellants "including castor oil are ineffective" [themoleman.com, the best website on this topic] or "have little value in controlling moles" [Robert Corrigan Ph.D, Animal Damage Control, Purdue University]. "Little value" is the key phrase, as it may have a LITTLE value. As the Mole Man puts it, "This old concoction never did work and never will work and if it did work as intended, as a repellent, it just puts a bad situation off, leaving the moles to dig and reproduce elsewhere." A single mole's territory typically covers three or more surburban properties so it's no big deal to the mole to spend a while in the further tunnels until normal watering or rainfall gets rid of the castor oil stench & then they start patrolling those tunnels again.

Most moles do no harm to gardens, & the first thing to do is assess whether or not typical gardener overreaction is the only problem. Mole tunnels do NOT kill lawns; they aerate lawns while cleaning out harmful grubs. They rarely eat plant material. With the exception of the Townsend's mole which is a very industrious moundbuilder, most moles don't even make very many mounds, & for as long as their established tunnels provide enough food, they don't even extend their tunnels, they just maintain their extant runs. In a drought or food shortage conditions they will get industrious again. They are beneficial to gardens by eating common harmful insects, & aerating soil that could otherwise become compacted & less pleasing to perennials. I doubt I'd be able to tolerate a Townsend's mole, but we frequently have a resident Coast mole & when the cats get one it's kinda sad. The Coast mole's activity takes a very careful eye to even notice its work; it makes few mounds & its entryways are very unobtrusive. Worst they've ever done is pushed up a few tulip bulbs that were in their way, but no harm otherwise.

They are territorial & a yard generally only has one mole at a time. In rare ocasions a single acre will have three moles with their own non-intersecting tunnels; if a mole finds a neighboring mole in its runs, there'll be a big fight about it. If you kill one, another mole will move in immediately because adolescents get beaten up if they stay in their mothers' territory so have to find a place that is not patrolled by an established mole. A location where a vanished mole already did the work of making extensive underground runs is VERY appealing to an adolescent mole. So mole-haters have to fight them persistently & constantly & rarely succeed at going more than a week or two without a mole. If the garden is pleasing to a mole it is probably because it has harmful grubs.

Moles are too smart for live traps. Other than liberally soaking the entire property with castor oil, no other repellant works; virtually all home recipes for repellants, & home methods like pinwheels & other folkloric methods of mole control, always fail. They want live food (snails, grubs, slugs, worms predominantly) so poison bait doesn't get them. Sonic gadges are totally bogus. The one sure-fire method of getting rid of one mole is to know how to set cruel scissors or spear traps in such a way that the mole doesn't detect the tinkered-with tunnel; it sometimes takes an expert at mole control to place these traps in a manner that doesn't forworn that smart little mole. But you can find instructions for how to use spear-traps at themoleman.com, together with warnings about these traps NOT being user-friendly so that a professional trapper is apt to be needed.

A terrier, dachshund, or cat that knows what it is doing can usually control moles, but the typical spoiled dog or cat wouldn't have a clue.

If as in 99.9% of cases the mole isn't actually doing any harm, it would be way smarter to just tolerate the mole. The Mole Man's pages have the best information for people who just cannot tolerate moles harmless or helpful or whatever else. My article on the other hand is slanted more toward tolerance: "Our Friend the Mole"

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the ratgirl

Reply to
paghat

Years ago I got rid of mine with a phosphorous based poison in their tunnels - think it generated phosphine which is a highly poisonous gas. Other mole poisons in their tunnels cut them down but they came back. Frank

Reply to
Frank Logullo

If you or a friend or neighbor have a cat and they use clumping cat litter, you can stick a *used clump* in a hole or two. The smell of cat urine will chase them away.

/J

Reply to
Jenn Vanderslice

Traps are placed in the moles tunnel. Not likely to harm any animal except moles. I like the pincher style trap similiar to gopher traps. Several other types of traps are available. Check out

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Reply to
Pat

Use a Weed Twister

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to damage the mole tunnel. Moles will not return to damaged tunnels. Constant vigilance will motivate the mole to find other areas.

_______ EWIRM: Nature makes plants, humans make weeds!

Reply to
raycruzer

The only foolproof way to get rid of moles is to use a mole trap. Yo

will need at least two and some patience. Locate a tunnel or air hole put trap in hole and cover top with a bucket so air can't be seen. The wait...and wait. You may need to try different locations. Don't pok around too much or you will leave human smell

-- trug

Reply to
trug

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